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subject walked outside, stepped away from the building, looked straight up at the lens and froze. Says Ellis, "He thought the camera was a rifle. For a split second, he thought he was dead. And in a single instant, I realized that the horrific world
Dashiell Hammett described so perfectly was alive and well and always would be." Ellis began working on
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By his own account, everything changed for Ellis when he was assigned the task of gathering surveillance footage of a mobster running for political office in a New Jersey ghetto. While Ellis and a collaborator hid on the third floor of a parking garage with a long-lens motion picture camera, the
256:, Ellis became associated with The Campaign Group. During political years, he wrote, produced, directed, and often shot and edited, more than fifteen hundred television ads for political candidates seeking every type of office, including President of the United States, and won numerous
287:, and two critically acclaimed series, the Lena Gamble novels and the Detective Matt Jones series. His novels have been translated into more than ten languages and selected as top reads by
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Still haunted by the murder of Connie Evans, a fifteen-year-old girl found in a shallow grave near his home as a boy, Ellis's interest in crime fiction began to evolve with the films of
184:, majoring in film and philosophy, and graduating summa cum laude. After surviving a catastrophic car crash by a tractor-trailer, he turned to screenwriting and studied with
129:, Pennsylvania, He was encouraged by his parents to embrace the arts. In his teens, Ellis played rhythm guitar in numerous garage bands, and managed the kitchen at
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to attend murder trials. These experiences became short stories, with Ellis sharing the position of co-editor of the school newspaper. Ellis attended
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Ellis made an early career in film, television, and advertising. His first film,
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262:My Opponent Is Not A Nice Person Award
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654:21st-century American male writers
618:WNPR Interview with Robert Ellis,
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551:WNPR Interview with Robert Ellis,
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260:from the AAPC, and the esteemed
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16:American writer of crime fiction
659:21st-century American novelists
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483:The Girl Buried in the Woods
232:Best Educational Documentary
106:. Ellis's novels are set in
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230:of Wisconsin. The film won
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674:Novelists from Los Angeles
582:"The Faith Middleton Show"
553:"The Faith Middleton Show"
203:The Man Who Fell to Earth
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669:American mystery writers
620:The Faith Middleton Show
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664:American male novelists
613:Mystery Readers Journal
536:Mystery Readers Journal
520:Mystery Readers Journal
374:Novels by Robert Ellis
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684:Ohio University alumni
236:New York Film Festival
162:Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
100:Robert Patterson Ellis
44:Robert Patterson Ellis
540:"L.A. in a Heartbeat"
524:"L.A. in a Heartbeat"
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174:Conestoga High School
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220:National Geographic
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569:"Film vs. Fiction"
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470:The Love Killings
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254:Vietnam War
191:The Hustler
166:John Buchan
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638:Categories
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345:magazine,
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379:Published
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244:CBS News
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369:Novels
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342:People
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